Ray Sarmiento named Player of the Week


By
 in ,

For the second time this season, USC sophomore Ray Sarmiento earned Pac-12 Player of the Week.

Sarmiento, who is the third consecutive USC tennis player to earn the honor, captured two doubles victories and two straight-set singles wins for the No. 1 Trojans (21-0, 2-0) in their two-game road trip to kick off conference play.

Ranked No. 23 in the nation in singles, Sarmiento chalked up a 6-4, 6-3 win over Emmett Egger in the Trojans’ 7-0 win over No. 22 Washington in their Pac-12 opener last Friday.

Sarmiento topped Oregon’s Robin Cambier 6-0, 6-1 a day later for the team’s first singles win against the Ducks. His efforts helped USC garner another 7-0 sweep, which became USC coach Peter Smith’s 200th win with the Trojans. Sarmiento is now 14-3 in dual match singles and 29-8 overall, with four consecutive wins on record.

In doubles, Sarmiento paired up with senior Daniel Nguyen for an 8-2 win against the Huskies and an 8-3 victory against the Ducks. Together, the No. 18 duo in doubles, improved to 15-2 in dual matches and 20-4 overall for the season.

Sarmiento was the first Trojan to take Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on Jan. 30 and now has four career selections as Player of the Week. Seniors Nguyen and Steve Johnson and freshmen Roberto Quiroz and Yannick Hanfmann comprise the other USC men’s tennis players who have earned the honor this season.

After their successful conference opener, the Trojans will travel again for two road games against Utah (11-7, 0-2) on Friday at 12:30 p.m. and Arizona (5-12, 0-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday.